Sociocracy in Schools
Empowering youth in education
What is sociocracy in schools, and why does it matter?
Imagine a school where every student has a voice in decisions that matter to them. A school where students can influence what is taught, the dress code, where to go on field trips, or even the school schedule. Such democratic schools using sociocracy as school governance to include students in decisions school-wide exist all over the world.
“I’m so glad to have found sociocracy- which is democracy, as it could be- to help with the subtle art of compromise.”
Hope Wilder, Pathfinder Community School
For classrooms
Tools and processes that support more democracy and participation in classrooms
For entire schools
How can everyone’s voice sing the same song – each in their different way?
Students problem-solving and decision-making
Consent decision-making, a way of deciding together where everyone is OK with the result, is a core part of sociocracy. This video shows a consent decision at a school using sociocracy about whether or not to rent a cotton candy (candyfloss) machine for a celebration. Watch how the students resolve objections and come up with a solution everyone can live with. From the film School Circles.
Empowering children through sociocracy grant
We’re excited to announce that SoFA has been selected to receive a $25,000 grant to help develop sociocracy with youth and in schools!
The grant will be used for:
- Researching the effects of sociocracy in schools
- Improving and creating new materials for imlpementing sociocracy with children
- Creating the first Sociocracy in Schools conference on January 15th, 2022
We are hopeful that with the added energy and resources, SoFA can be a leader in supporting bringing sociocracy to the next generation.
Want more information? Contact Hope: [email protected]
General Resources for Learning and Implementation
Meeting posters
Having a visual makes every meeting easier to follow.
Use them in your meeting room, or laminate and bring along.
Study group curriculum
The most affordable and easy way to train your all team!
4×2-hour sessions with exercises, readings, handouts, perfect for groups of 5-8 people. Video-led – just turn on the video and learn! By donation/coaching on a sliding scale.
Talk to a real human!
You’re not alone on this journey! We can connect you to others who have done it before, or talk you through a strategy that works for your particular circumstances.
Sociocracy Handbook
Written by the co-founders of Sociocracy For All. 300 pages.
Download our free booklet
“Sociocracy with Kids”
Sign up to our mailing list and download this free booklet.
In addition, our booklet Sociocracy – a brief introduction is available as a free download for those who are signed up for our mailing list.
Sociocracy in classrooms
Open Sociocratic elections for classrooms
A brochure for teachers who are ready to try consent decision making instead of an election using majority vote.
Self-determination only with co-determination
An article about the importance of participation in decision making in education.
By Simona Zäh, Unico School, Switzerland
Consent decision-making for student voice
“The Conversation Series – Episode 1 – Audrey Cheynut – “Consent decision-making for student voice” by Learn to Change
Using sociocracy school-wide
What schools are using sociocracy?
Note: this list is FAR from complete! Email [email protected] to help us make it more complete (see map). Another resource to find sociocratic schools is Wondering School with a map.
Australia
- Enkindle School (case study, presentation)
Austria
Chile
France
- Ecole Démocratique Ebroïcienne
- École Nouvelle de la Rize
- La Croisee des Chemins (no longer in operation, case study)
- La Ferme des Enfants in Ardèche
Germany
Netherlands
- Basisschool makED – Make Education
- De Ontdekking
- De School
- De Vrije Ruimte
- Democratische School De Ruimte
- DOE – Democratisch Onderwijs Eindhoven
- Guus Kieft School
- Kenniscentrum Kosmos Gronigen
- LIFE
- LOS Sociocratische Leeromgeving (case study)
- Plan B Sociocratische School
- Stichting Vivere Democratisch Onderwijs
- VO De Vallei
- Zorgboerderij De Mieden
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States
- Austin Waldorf School, TX
- Desert Star School, AZ
- Hershey Montessori School, PA
- High Mowing School, NH
- Morey Flextech High School, MI (presentation)
- New Roots Charter School, NY
- Pacem School, VT
- Pathfinder Community School, NC (no longer in operation, presentation)
- Rainbow Community School, NC (study)
“Lectica has tested many other private schools – very good ones – and also public schools of high socio-economic level, but we have never seen scores like Rainbow. […] Rainbow students have remarkable ‘perspectival’ abilities to take the perspective of others, a core aspect of transformative learning.” Source article
How does one organize a whole school in circles?
Click through the images to see how others do it.
All Education-Related Resources in Sociocracy For All
Collaboration Shapes Education and Young Leaders
by Lisa Praeg Strengthen youth leadership - Open election of class representatives as initiative Do you remember the last time you participated in a democratic election? What did you feel when you put down your vote? Have you been elected, or was someone elected for...
Lessons Learned on Conflict in a Sociocratic School
Conflict is hard, can lead to rifts in relationships, and also make an organization crash and burn. It can be all too easy to push disagreements under the rug, ignore intense feelings in order to keep going with running the business and accomplishing the goals of an organization.
Comparing Robert’s Rules and Sociocracy: How Consent Decision-Making Solves Some Problems From Parliamentary Procedure
The word democracy comes from the Greek “demos”, and is the shared rule of the people. The original meaning of democracy is a very large umbrella, of which majority rules is only one subset. Sociocracy, on the other hand, derives from “socios,” and means “the rule of the associates.” Sociocracy is one form of democracy as it could be, based on consent.
Clarity and empowerment: What is a domain?
Domains combine clarity with flexibility, small groups with big picture thinking and alignment, empowerment of groups and individuals with responsibility. It’s a design pattern that we can use indefinitely – with a place for everything and everything in its place.
Reiterating Sociocratic Models for Culturally-Competent Inclusion, Accessibility, Accountability, and Transparency (Sophie Xu)
Sophie Xu explores how to center historically and currently marginalized voices — especially those of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) — in existing and innovative sociocratic framework. She grapples with and examines the births of sociocracy, its linkage to whiteness, and how to render its core, identifying, and groundbreaking norms (e.g. consent-based decision-making) culturally-competent.
Conflict as a tension to steer by
Conflict as a tension to steer by The unwritten rules in many groups are clear: Be nice, avoid conflict at all costs and, if a conflict arises, see it as a “personal problem” of one perhaps problematic individual. In sociocracy, we have the opportunity to see things...
Sociocracy’s potential in the process of collective (re-)awakening (Ellen Even)
If you are wondering how it could be possible for humanity to align its consciousness towards mutual understanding and fear-free development • If you are wondering why the combination of sociocracy’s clear rules and its great potential for empowerment enables the emergence of these processes • If you are interested in some practical examples of how you can nurture this culture, feel welcome to join my discussion!
So, you want to practice sociocracy with children? (Hope Wilder)
Sociocracy is easily picked up by children with practice. This presentation will focus on steps to take to practice sociocracy with children in small groups, from finding a children’s domain to practicing consent decision making together.
Egg or hen – Sociocracy: an organizational approach or a manifestation of a mindset? (Armin Sieber)
Encouraged by positive experiences with various new forms to organize a school, we finally decided on Sociocracy 3.0. The organic adaptability of S3.0 provided a framework to incorporate useful elements from other approaches and, at the same time, to meet the need for orientation and “simplexity” in our VUCA world. So for us, it was egg first, maybe? Insights and questions based on our multi-year trip.
Conflict resolution in schools by consent and NVC consciousness (Magdalena Sendor)
If you say school you can say conflicts. It is life, it is normal. Since NVC and sociocracy have crossed my way, in this order, I am in the point of not being afraid of conflict even when the group is involved. With NVC which prioritizes connection and sociocracy who takes care about effectiveness for the group I find myself well equipped in front of tension and quarrels.
5 Ways you’re already using restorative practices
5 Ways you’re already using restorative practices and how to become even more restorative when using sociocracy “Don’t tell anyone else we’ve trained, but this is by far the most restorative school I’ve ever seen.” I was shocked to hear that from the...
Sociocracy with Children and Other People
Sociocracy with Children and Other People Lessons Learned about Effective Meetings and Community Building I deeply believe that children deserve the same respect as adults, and to that end, I started a learning community where every member has a voice, and we aim to...
Better time management in meetings – with sociocracy
Longing for better time management in meetings? Curious what sociocracy has to offer? Learn how to keep meetings short and productive.
La Croisée des Chemins: A school using sociocracy
La Croisée des Chemins, or Crossroads, is a cultural center located in Dijon as well as the first democratic free school in France. It uses #sociocracy!
Roles, jobs and salaries in sociocracy
On what basis do we decide salaries in sociocracy? Is it based on the sum of all roles? But how does that work? Or are there traditional “positions” in sociocracy too?
